During a solo performance in Melbourne, Thom Yorke had to pause his show when someone from the crowd shouted about Gaza’s situation and questioned his silence.
The man was yelling about the many lives lost in Gaza due to Israel’s actions, prompting Yorke to challenge him: “Come up on the fucking stage and say what you want to say. Don’t stand there like a coward. Come here and say it.” He added, “You want to piss on everybody’s night? Come on. OK, you do, see you later.” After leaving briefly, he returned and performed “Karma Police.”
Back in 2017, Yorke faced criticism for playing in Israel with Radiohead. He brushed off the criticism by saying that performing somewhere doesn’t mean they support its leaders. “Playing in a country isn’t the same as endorsing its government… We don’t endorse [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu any more than Trump,” he stated.
Fans sometimes wonder if artists should avoid performing in places with controversial governments.
Jonny Greenwood has also defended his music collaborations with Dudu Tassa against claims of supporting genocide by playing in Tel Aviv during ongoing conflicts.
Greenwood—married to Sharona Katan from Israel—worked with Tassa on an album called Jarak Qaribak. He expressed that while art can’t stop all suffering, doing nothing feels worse: “But doing nothing seems a worse option. And silencing Israeli artists for being born Jewish in Israel doesn’t seem like any way to reach an understanding between the two sides of this apparently endless conflict.”
